En aktor ved militærkommisjonene som dømmer de innsatte på Guantanamo sier systemet er en svart flekk på USAs rulleblad, og at praksis strider mot prinsipper i grunnloven: bevis til fordel for tiltalte holdes tilbake, man bygger på rykter og tilståelser fremskaffet under press.

Darrell Vandeveld forlot tidligere i år siden stilling av samvittighetsgrunner. I et intervju med BBC forteller han hvorfor.

“I thought that the military commissions were part of a grand tradition in accordance with the highest of American values,” he said. “Now I see them as having defiled the U.S. Constitution and I see them as a stain on America.

“There should have been a procedure in place so that we could ensure due process and fair trials for these defendants. There was no such process.”
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Vandeveld said he had initially supported the tribunals at Guantanamo, set up in January 2002 to hold terrorism suspects captured after the September 11 attacks on the United States by al Qaeda militants.

At one point he said he was the lead prosecutor for one third of all pending cases, although he soon grew concerned at the handling of evidence at Guantanamo.

“I went from being a true believer to one who felt truly deceived,” he said. “Everything was in disarray, everything was contained in boxes that were not organized.

“I was convinced at that point that it was impossible to guarantee that they would get a fair trial,” he added. “I was also concerned about the use of hearsay and then also what we would call double-hearsay.

“That would never be admissible in a United States court and of course coerced testimony would never be admissible. The evidence was in a state of chaos.”

Ex-prosecutor says Guantanamo is “stain on America”